Here's how you can celebrate President John F. Kennedy's 100th bday

A century after President John F. Kennedy's birth, his legacy lives on.
USA TODAY

A portrait of President Kennedy in 'American Visionary: John F. Kennedy's Life and Times' exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum & National Portrait Gallery that opened in May 2017 in Washington.(Photo: Larry French, Getty Images for WS Productions)

The 100th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's birth is Monday and many Americans are taking some time on the Memorial Day holiday weekend to remember the nation's 35th president.

The array of options to commemorate JFK's centennial year spans high culture to pop culture: Books, lectures, museum and art exhibits, performances and touch football, a commemorative U.S. stamp and (this being America) auctions of Kennedy artifacts.

In a divisive era, Kennedy continues as a touchstone despite being a scion of a family of liberal Democrats who have populated American politics for nearly three generations. In part, Americans remember Kennedy because of the shocking manner of his death — assassinated in 1963 by a gunman in Dallas — at just 45.

But mixed in with the sorrow is the memory of the hope and inspiration the Massachusetts-born Kennedy provided Americans when he became president in 1961, the first Roman Catholic to be elected president, the youngest, and one of the most stirring public speakers to recently inhabit the Oval Office.

Davis Houck, a professor at Florida State University and an expert on presidential rhetoric, says Kennedy's public voice continues to echo in the minds of millions, even those who weren't born when he gave his most famous speeches.

"Kennedy’s rhetorical signature will forever link this 'new generation' to the ideals of his administration," Houck says. "Kennedy's call to youthful idealism and sacrifice continue to resonate well beyond his brief presidency.”

A woman walks by the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston.(Photo: Darren McCollester, Getty Images)

Commemorating Kennedy is a national endeavor: Last year, Congress established the John F. Kennedy Centennial Commission, charged with planning, developing and carrying out activities to honor JFK. Presidential historians and journalists, for instance, will gab at conferences and symposia about Kennedy — such as the one at the Palely Center for Media in New York on June 13 to talk about JFK's use of TV to transform the presidency.

Here's a sampling of other ways to commemorate the centennial of JFK's birth:

John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum: Boston

Headquarters of all things JFK, the library is a partner in many commemorations; in November, it touched off a year-long schedule of activities aimed at encouraging new generations to find meaning in Kennedy's values.

The activities include TED talks, touch football games played in honor of Kennedy's commitment to physical fitness, and an international digital project inviting people to submit photographs of places named after Kennedy to show the reach of his legacy.

In February, a new Forever stamp to mark the centennial was unveiled at the library, featuring a 1960 photograph by Ted Spiegel of Kennedy campaigning for president in Seattle, and a 1970 painting by Aaron Shikler of Kennedy in a reflective pose.

The library's centerpiece is JFK 100: Milestones and Mementos, an exhibit featuring items from its collections that chronicle milestones in Kennedy's career and administration, his personal and family life. The exhibit opens Friday.

"As we mark the centennial of my grandfather’s birth, we renew his call for service, courage, innovation and inclusion, and help a new generation use his example to embrace the challenges of our time,” said Jack Schlossberg, son of Kennedy's surviving child, Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, in a statement.

John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum: Cape Cod, Mass.

The "Kennedy compound at Hyannis Port" on Cape Cod was a familiar phrase on TV news during the Kennedy administration, referring to the family's long-time (and continuing) summer vacation property, where the president often went to sail and relax with wife Jackie and their two children, plus a clutch of assorted Kennedy relatives.

JFK's former home in Hyannis Port on Cape Cod, Mass. Pieces of the home salvaged during renovation have now been turned into artworks to be auctioned.(Photo: Steven Senne, AP)

After Kennedy's death, so many tourists asked about the compound the local chamber of commerce in response set up a museum in a historic building on Main Street dedicated to promoting the Kennedy presidency and the family's history on the island. The museum's special exhibit, JFK at 100: Life and Legacy, is now open.

Also, to fund museum expansion, a special art auction, Artwork Inspired by a Presidential Home, is scheduled for Aug. 7 at a nearby resort. The president's home on the compound, now occupied by one of his nephews, recently underwent renovations but material salvaged from the project — such as balusters and wallpaper from Jackie's powder room — was transformed into works of art by 30 Cape Cod artists.

Richard Neal of Centerville, Mass., with his multi-media constructions called "Jackie," and "Jack," right, at the John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum in Hyannis, Mass. The art was created by local artists from material salvaged from renovation of JFK's summer home, and will be sold at auction to benefit the museum.(Photo: Steven Senne, AP)

Also, the Washington Ballet's Frontier, a new work by Ethan Stiefel (Friday and Saturday in the Opera House) was inspired by what the president called the "exciting adventure of space" and his 1961 speech declaring the U.S. goal of traveling to the moon within a decade.

Caroline Kennedy, President Kennedy's daughter and heir and President Obama's former ambassador to Japan, at the ceremony at Boston's JFK Presidential Library and Museum, May 7, 2017, when Obama was presented with the 2017 Profile in Courage award.(Photo: Steven Senne, AP)

The Smithsonian, Washington

The National Portrait Gallery has opened Celebrate: John F. Kennedy, featuring some of the gallery's 72 portraits of the president. The Smithsonian American Art Museum next door is featuring American Visionary: John F. Kennedy's Life and Times, an exhibit that celebrates the golden age of photojournalism in America and the politician who became its icon. And the National Museum of American History has just opened the JFK Centennial Celebrationdisplay of nine photos of the president and his family by photographer Richard Avedon taken in 1961 a few weeks before he was inaugurated.

Books

Books about JFK have been plentiful since the 1960s; some of the recent tomes include:

In August 1963, President Kennedy went sailing with his daughter Caroline on Hyannis Sound, off Hyannis Port, Mass.(Photo: Cecil Stoughton, White House Photographs, JFK Presidential Library and Museum)

A Cartier Tank wrist watch worn by the late Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis to be auctioned by Christie's in New York on June 21, 2017.(Photo: Christie's via AP)

Auctions:

Interest in Kennedy memorabilia never wanes. A few recent examples include a diary with JFK's jottings, inner thoughts on politics and his personal beliefs sold last month at a Boston auction for more than $700,000, a half-million dollars over the estimate.

In March, Jackie's handwritten letter to an old friend, British peer Lord Harlech, rejecting his secret offer of marriage in 1967, sold at auction in London for $130,000.

And on June 21, a Cartier Tank watch worn by Jackie for decades, and visible on her wrist in many photos, will be auctioned at Christie's Rare Watches and American Icons sale in New York; the estimate is $60,000 to $120,000.